


rex quondam, rexque futurus

by echeveria



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: AkaKuro Week 2016, M/M, Slow Burn, Very Very Slow Burn, akashi is in high school, and kuroko is in middle school
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-15
Updated: 2016-04-15
Packaged: 2018-06-02 09:12:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6560572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/echeveria/pseuds/echeveria
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Transcript of the interview with Rakuzan's captain, right after Seirin’s win at the Winter Cup:<br/><br/><i>Interviewer: “If there was one thing you could change about tonight’s match, what would it be?”</i><br/><i>Akashi: -laughs- “I don’t think that’s a fair question to ask.”</i><br/><i>(But also Akashi: “... Everything.”)</i><br/><br/>Akashi has a vision of what could, and should, have been.</p>
            </blockquote>





	rex quondam, rexque futurus

**Author's Note:**

> this is the rather short beginning of what will hopefully be a rather long story. a warning: as i mentioned in the tags, the story is about akashi, who is in high school, and kuroko, who is in middle school. however, nothing questionable will happen until later, because i love suffering and inflicting suffering lol

There were now exactly two incomprehensible events in Akashi Seijuurou’s life to date. Call it an incomprehensible coincidence that they both revolved around a single person.

"... Akashi-kun?" The name was uttered slowly, tentatively. The space between them held nothing but air, yet Akashi felt a rising pressure with each passing second of the silence that followed, coiling in his chest like a spring-wound toy. Akashi stared levelly into the boy’s wide eyes. There was no mistaking who it was.

“Yes, Tetsuya?” Akashi replied, his tone perfectly even.

"Oh." Kuroko muttered. They were both suddenly at a loss for words, it seemed. Then, looking at his shoes, Kuroko mused quietly to himself, "I must be dreaming."

How strange, Akashi thought. That should have been my line.

There was a familiar chime as a customer came inside the convenience store, but it did nothing to ease the tension. It was like being suspended in jelly, like being squeezed from all directions by some viscous, unseen force. Akashi took a moment to collect his thoughts. It would be best to simply do what he came here to do, and then leave.

They reached for the handle of the freezer at the same time. There was only the slightest of skin to skin contact as their fingers brushed together, but both of them recoiled at the sensation as though they had been burned.

"O-oh, I’m very sorry, I didn’t think… sorry..." Kuroko was stumbling over his words as he mumbled apology after apology. Somewhere nearby, Akashi could hear a hushed conversation being exchanged between two people, but could not make out any of the words being said. His erratic heartbeat thumped a foreign rhythm in his own ears over the washed out buzz of white noise. He could feel the crescendo coming, the deafening roar of the crowd.

"Tetsuya, come with me for a moment," said Akashi. Without further explanation, he took Kuroko’s smaller hand in his own and pulled him towards the store’s exit.

The sidewalk outside was littered with crushed cherry blossom petals. There was also a light rain coming down, which Akashi had not been expecting when he had made the decision to drag Kuroko out there. The two of them now stood under the awning of the store without umbrellas.

Akashi glanced over at Kuroko to find him already looking his way. The boy’s expression hid absolutely nothing; his cheeks were tinged with pink and his eyes still round with surprise as he opened his mouth to speak, only to find that he had nothing to say. Wordlessly, Kuroko tugged his hand slightly closer to himself, and Akashi’s gaze flickered briefly towards the connection before he loosened his grip, allowing their hands to separate.

As Akashi searched himself for the right questions to ask, Kuroko cleared his throat, and asked rather plaintively, “Are you perhaps… his older brother?”

When Akashi didn’t respond, Kuroko quickly added by way of explanation, “Akashi Seijuurou. You look a lot like him.”

Akashi’s voice contained neither amusement nor derision as he simply said, “I am Akashi Seijuurou.”

“Oh.” Kuroko nodded, but his confusion was evident by the way his brows furrowed slightly.

“And you are Kuroko Tetsuya.” Akashi said, more as a statement than a question. Kuroko nodded several times slowly, not in uncertainty, but in bewilderment. Akashi continued, “May I ask today’s date?”

After a moment of thought, Kuroko replied, “It’s April 15th.”

Wrong. Akashi knew exactly what the date was, and it most certainly was not April 15th. Except, Akashi thought as his eyes scanned the carpet of petals around them, that apparently it was. Akashi mulled this information over and concluded that he must indeed be dreaming.

If he was in a dream, he should theoretically be able to will things in and out of existence. Closing his eyes, he began to piece together in his mind a vivid picture of the rain stopping, the clouds parting to give way to an infinite blue sky. He told himself firmly that this would become the new reality, and that the old was to be discarded. He was in complete control of this world.

Akashi opened his eyes. It was still raining. The convenience store doors chimed as they slid open and closed again. He exhaled slowly in an imitation of a sigh. What was one supposed to do in such a bizarre situation?

“Tetsuya, what school do you go to?” Akashi asked, as if he hadn’t immediately noticed the pristine white blazer the boy was wearing the moment they had met. For the sake of his own sanity, he had to confirm at least this.

“Teikou Middle School, the same as you,” Kuroko paused. He glanced up and down Akashi’s all-grey attire. “I think.”

Akashi shook his head. “I attend Rakuzan High, now.”

“High school... “ Kuroko trailed off. He was frowning at the ground when his eyebrows shot upwards and his expression brightened with sudden realization. “Then, Akashi-kun is a time traveller?”

Akashi stared at the smaller boy. His lips twitched with the beginnings of a wry smile. “That would be a very convenient explanation indeed, but I’m afraid time travel is impossible, Tetsuya.”

“Then, this really is just a dream.” Kuroko murmured softly. His eyes became clouded over with a strange, distant look. “If this is a dream, then… can I…”

“Don’t do anything dangerous, Tetsuya,” Akashi interrupted. Kuroko’s back straightened visibly at being chided, and he seemed slightly embarrassed as he nodded sheepishly in agreement.

“Um, so…” Kuroko began nervously. “I’m going to go back into the store and buy something.”

Akashi nodded once. The chime went off again as Kuroko re-entered the store, and in his absence, only the steady sound of raindrops hitting the ground filled the otherwise silent air. Nothing else was happening. Akashi had considered pinching himself, but banished the thought nearly as quickly as it came. If he could have woken up at will, he would have. There was, evidently, nothing he could do but wait.

The doors, again. He was beginning to tire of the cheerful-sounding chime. Kuroko came up next to him, and in the periphery of his vision, Akashi could see him take something out of the thin plastic bag in his hands.

“This is for you,” said Kuroko. Akashi glanced down at what the boy was holding. It was a popsicle.

Akashi swallowed. He had forgotten all about it. “Thank you, Tetsuya.”

The weather wasn’t quite warm enough for such a cold treat to be truly enjoyable, but Akashi unwrapped the popsicle anyway, and bit into the sweet flavoured ice. Kuroko was already nibbling on his own popsicle, and Akashi noted with mild interest that Kuroko had bought two different flavours-- not that Akashi had a particular preference; it was all the same artificial, sugary taste to him, but he wondered what flavour Kuroko preferred. Akashi searched his memories for an answer, but he could count the number of times he had gone to the convenience store with the rest of the team on one hand, and he was fairly certain that Kuroko had been absent on those days, simply by chance.

“What flavour is yours?”

Kuroko looked up, startled. “Soda. Um, if you want to, we can trade.”

“No, I was merely curious,” said Akashi, masking his expression as he bit another piece of ice off. He glanced at the empty plastic wrapper in his own hand. There was a saturated image of a strawberry on it.

They finished their popsicles without further conversation. Akashi briefly glanced at the words printed on the wooden stick: “Too Bad”. He put it back in the wrapper and moved to toss both into a rubbish bin by the doors; as he approached, the motion sensor detected him, and the chime went off again as the automatic doors slid open. Akashi let out a clipped sigh.

“If this is a dream, let it end already,” Akashi said to no one in particular, though of course, Kuroko heard him.

“Akashi-kun,” said Kuroko. Akashi could already tell from the way he spoke his name that whatever was coming next was bound to be something he didn’t want to hear. “What if this isn’t a dream?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Tetsuya.” Akashi had already prepared this line in anticipation of needing to use it, and delivered it with a tone of utmost finality.

Kuroko was not deterred. “Then, tell me: whose dream is it?”

**Author's Note:**

> scratches head sheepishly... what is this story even about? i'll try to answer that question soon. thank you for reading.


End file.
